Unlikely connections

In his new novel, TransAtlantic, Colum McCann proves once again why he is one of the most acclaimed authors of our time. Like the award-winning Let the Great World Spin, TransAtlantic explores the connections between people of different classes and ethnicities, but this time over centuries and between continents. McCann mixes actual historic events with the story of a singular Irish-American...

Well Read Column by Robert Weibezahl

To make sense of public tragedies, we generally turn to nonfiction, be it the immediacy of a newspaper account or the arm’s length perspective of the historian. But it can take a good novelist to convey the full measure of private tragedy. Colum McCann accomplishes exactly that in his enveloping new novel, Let the Great World Spin. Set in New York City in 1974, the novel’s...

A lyrical look at life on the outside

Colum McCann's previous novels have vividly demonstrated his ability to delve into the obscure corners of history and emerge with compelling and memorable characters. In Dancer it was Rudolf Nureyev; in This Side of Brightness it was the early 20th- century subway workers who risked their lives tunneling under New York City. The central character in his latest novel is Zoli, an exotic singer...

Book Clubs Column by Julie Hale

This glittering biographical novel tells the story of Rudolf Nureyev, one of the 20th century's greatest ballet dancers and an international star done in by his own decadent lifestyle. Offering a kaleidoscopic vision of Nureyev, the book is narrated by the people who knew him, from Anna Vasileva, his first ballet instructor, to Victor, a gay gigolo. The book unfolds over the course of four...

Powerfully written art

Anyone familiar with a collection of short stories entitled Fishing the Sloe-Black River knows the strength of Colum McCann's writing. Like Thomas Wolfe, McCann writes lyrical prose that is both refined and urbane. Given the structure of the short story, McCann's talents distill themselves into wonderfully descriptive passages that segue gracefully into and out of the action of his...